Saturday, April 21, 2007

SHAM 69 : (2004) The Complete Collection (Box Set)

Sham 69, one of the leading lights of Britain's late-'70s Oi movement, turned the anti-authoritarian punk of the Clash and Sex Pistols into a blunt instrument of savage grace and blue-collar sociopolitical power. They preached an often-misunderstood message of peace and unity. The hooligan element of the band's following mistook the football chant choruses and raucous power chords as expressions of ignorant proletarian violence.I'm not a Sham 69 expert. Until I bought this a few weeks ago I'd only heard "Hurry Up, Harry", "If the Kids Are United", and my favorite, "Borstal Breakout". Those are all good songs and 70's Brit-punk is my favorite music, so I picked this up. Anyway, I'm glad I got this. The music's great, especially the first disc (minus the 1988 songs at the end).My only question is, what do they mean by calling this "the complete collection"? The third and last CD is all live tracks, many of which I don't recall hearing on the first two CD's. A few are covers, I do realize, but most of the 3rd disc songs say they were written BY Sham 69. So, I'm thinking they were published as studio versions before they were recorded from live shows. So, where ARE those studio recordings? Is this really a "complete collection". I don't think so, but hey, it's still a good buy...by Mikey Scars (Maryland)

Tracks:Disc: 11. BORSTAL BREAKOUT2. HEY LITTLE RICH BOY3. ANGELS WITH DIRTY FACES4. THE COCKNEY KIDS ARE INNOCENT5. IF THE KIDS ARE UNITED6. SUNDAY MORNING NIGHTMARE7. HURRY UP HARRY8. QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS9. HERSHAM BOYS (7')10. GIVE A DOG A BONE11. YOU'RE A BETTER MAN THAN I12. TELL THE CHILDREN13. UNITE AND WIN14. RIP AND TEAR15. OUTSIDE THE WAREHOUSE16. BAN THE GUNDisc: 21. TELL US THE TRUTH2. WHO GIVES A DAMN3. NO ENTRY4. THAT'S LIFE5. I GOTTA SURVIVE6. WITH A LITTLE HELP FROM MY FRIENDS7. MONEY8. POOR COW9. THE GAME10. SIMON11. JOEY'S ON THE STREET12. JACK13. I'M A MAN, I'M A BOY14. VOLUNTEER15. THE GREAT AMERICAN SHOWDOWN16. HOW THE WEST WAS WONDisc: 31. WHAT HAVE WE GOT2. WE GOTTA FIGHT3. ULSTER4. THEY DON'T UNDERSTAND5. I DON'T WANNA6. RIP OFF7. TELL US THE TRUTH8. PRETTY VACANT9. WHITE RIOT10. VOICES11. WHO GIVES A DAMN12. DAYTRIPPER13. HURRY UP HARRY14. LOUDMOUTH15. GEOFFREY THOMAS16. BLACKPOOL** Original Recordings Remastered** Uploaded by REBEL REBEL, THANKS MAN!!!